'Dad, I don't want one now'

Mr Ibraheim said one of the girls had plugged it into the wall just 10 minutes before the blaze broke out.

He said two of his daughters were outside playing with neighbours, while two were inside.

"The beeping of the fire alarm sounded like the beeping of the fridge when it's left open, so no-one paid attention for a bit," he said.

"We're just grateful it didn't happen while the girls were sleeping in the bedroom. It all happened in a matter of eight to 10 minutes.

"By the time the fire brigade came the whole house was on fire.

"The youngest one, the eight-year-old, who didn't get one for Christmas, said 'dad, I don't want one now'.

"No more hoverboards."

Mr East said lithium ion batteries, which are used in the hoverboard, can cause problems.

"Lithium ion batteries are not designed to be on charge 24 hours a day," he said.

"The other problem that we located in this house which is very prevalent is the fact that there's power boards all through the house and that alters the current flow to any charging devices.

"So the device works a little bit harder and again we have a chance of a fault."

Russell Crowe incident 'highlights dangers'

Safety concerns over some hoverboard designs led the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to issue a pre-Christmas warning about the danger of fires and the potential for injury through falls.

Deputy Chair of the ACCC Delia Rickard said if people insisted on using the hoverboards they should not leave them unattended.

"We're saying to people don't leave them charging unobserved, if you're determined to use it, make sure you're watching it," Ms Rickard said.

"Most of the reports that we've heard have been of hoverboards that were charging unattended and spontaneously burst into flames."